RICHARD FRANKLIN BARTLETT

Born: 1900 in East Bridgewater, Massachusetts
Died: 1989
Known for printmaking; graphic design; drawing; publishing; painting
Name Variants: Richard F. Bartlett

Richard Franklin Bartlett (1900 – 1989) was born in East Bridgewater, Massachusetts. He attended the Vesper George School of Art for one year. He was then told by the faculty that he was talented enough already to begin doing commercial illustrations, so he left school for full-time work.

He quickly built a roster of clients in the Greater Boston area, including the jewelers Shreve Crump & Low in Boston, several manufacturers in nearby Brockton, and the Newcomen Society, the preeminent society for the international study of engineering and technology.

His meticulously detailed pen-and-ink drawings were the only illustrations used in Newcomen publications for over 40 years. He also gained many Boston and New York book publishing clients for his illustration services.
His works includes lithographs, drawings, oil and watercolor paintings.

Several of his prints are in the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Art and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. His print Alone (1949) was also included in the Seventh National Exhibition of Prints at the Library of Congress in 1949 and was one of the very few works chosen for the Library’s permanent collection, from among 1219 submissions. Four of his pen-and-ink drawings of sailing ships are in the collection of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy.

His son Richard C. Bartlett (1924 – 2016) also became a professional artist.

Sources:
National Gallery of Art

Boston Museum of Fine Arts

The New International Year Book: A Compendium Of The World’s Progress For the Year 1949

Library of Congress

Submitted 2024 by Donna and Jay Bartlett, July 2024.